Money
Learn how to stop your bad spending habits with financial advice from Bola Sokunbi.
Bola Sokunbi of Clever Girl Financeis back with some insight on ways to save moneyyou might not realize you're spending.
Trying to save money? Too bad you're probably spending it in other places without even realizing.
Have you ever taken a serious look at your spending and noticed any trends or habits that you weren't too happy about? You're not alone. I recently came across a really insightful personal finance studyby Hloom.comthat asked 2,000 people across the United Statesto share their two cents (pun intended) about the various ways they waste money and the results were very interesting!
While the study was done across different categories and age groups,today I'mfocusing on the ways women are wasting their money and providing some Clever Girl tips on how to curb this wastefulness!
1. Eating out
Unsurprisingly, this tops the list. Based on the study,70 percent of women admit to wasting money on eating out—A.K.A. most of us!—and it's no surprise because themajority of us tend to eat out at work.
One way to curb this is by looking at your schedule ahead of time and planning accordingly. For instance, if you have a dinner on one night you may want to consider taking breakfast and lunch to work sothat you are not eating three meals out in one day. Also eating out for lunch is usually cheaper than dinner so you may wantto consider planning lunch datesas opposed to dinners.
Another way to curb eating out so much is by meal planning. Pinterest has tons of really awesome meal planning ideas that you can change up each week so you never have to take a boring lunch to work ever again. And you can create meal planning challenges with your coworkers, too. The great thing about meal planning is that it helps you eat better, since you aremore likely to make better choices when planning ahead.
2. Uneaten or expired food
Ever find that you go to the grocery store, buy all this food, and then end up eating out so much that most of it goes uneaten or ends up expired?Again, your solution here is meal planning. Also when you plan out your meals you'll get a better idea ofhow much you should be buying and what your leftovers will be like, so you can freeze food instead of letting it go to waste.When you freeze food, it lasts well over the expiration date, leaving you more money for everything else.
3.Grocery items
Can wesay "meal planning" again? You want to plan out your meals for the week before you head to the grocery store. Alsomake sure to go to the grocery store with a full belly and with a list of items to buy, soyou don't get sidetracked by that smell of baking bread wafting from the corner. Better yet, take advantage ofonline grocery shopping or subscription servicesif possible. Sometimes the $5 or $10 delivery fee is still less than you'd spend on thoseextra unplanned items that sneak into your cart each time you visit the grocery store.
4. Credit card interest
Credit card interest is how the credit card companies make money and how you stay in debt. Ever feel like you aren't making a dent in your debt even though you are making payments religiously every month? Well, making only the minimum payments on your credit debt will do this.The way to combat it? Pay more than the minimum each month. Pay as much as you can towards your credit card balances every single month until you can eventually pay them off. In other words, get aggressive. See myposton how to pay off debt using the snowball methodfor some more tips.
5.Booze
Alcohol costs a lot of money,especially at restaurants and bars. The markup is ridiculous—actually, it's more than ridiculous, it's crazy. My advice? If you are seriously trying to save money but need to meet someone for a drink, stick to one glass or avoid it completely.
6. Streaming Services
Streaming services makesense if they replace something else, for instance, if you plan on Netflix replacing your cable subscription. However, if you are paying for streaming services just to have them or only to watch certain shows and you find yourself with cable plus Netflix plus Hulu etc., then this really is a waste of money. It's time to cancel some of those services.
7. Entertainment and 8. Hobbies and Activities
I'm lumping these together because they sort of fall into the same category—both unnecessary expenses that add up fast. Add in kids and the costs can skyrocket. To save money, think of free things to do,Pinterest is a great "go to" for me (can you tell?)because it has tons of ideas—just search the word "free" and you'll find more options thanyou'll have time for.
9. Clothes
Trends come and go—so unless it's a staple piece, clothes really are not a worthwhile investment. That being said, buy quality over quantity,plan out your wardrobe and think about "cost per wear" when making a purchase. So spend bigon the bootsthat'll withstand a full winter of wintry conditions, not the summer music festival outfit you'll wear twice.
10. Cell phone Plans
Have you called your cell phone company to find out if there's a cheaper plan lately? Service and data rates are so competitive these days, there's always some special offer going on. Plan to call every six months or so to see if you can get a better rate. It never hurts to try.
